Macbook as an external hard drive

October 10, 2006 2:44 PM

How can I use my Macbook as an external hard drive?

If I want to connect my Macbook to another computer (via firewire or USB, not via a network connection), I've heard that I can connect the two computers, boot up the Macbook, press a few buttons, and then my Macbook will show up on the other computer as an external drive. Is this true? If so, how?

Also, is it possible to do this using my Macbook and a Windows machine?

posted by JPowers to computers & internet (2 comments total)

What you are looking for is called target mode.
posted by rdurbin at 2:49 PM on October 10, 2006

• How to use FireWire target disk mode

You'll need software on a Windows machine to recognize HFS+-formatted volumes (such as what you find on a Mac). Examples include MacOpener and MacDrive.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:50 PM on October 10, 2006